The Mary Sue That Wasn't
by Stilts
Summary: PG for possible future stuff that won't go above PG. Casting Call. All stories are about someone's life. This story isn't any different. If I tell you to R&R, it won't change your mind on whether or not you would anyway. :-D
1. Default Chapter

Well, this first part isn't really a "chapter…"

Let me explain.

I want to write a story about an all girls lodging house that doesn't revolve around the love lives of the newsboys. I want to get into family conflicts, girl "catfights", injury, hurt feelings, quirks, the love between friends, and how hard it is to share a room with a lot of other people. Don't get me wrong, there will probably be quite a lot of hooking up between the newsies and the girls, but think high school, it's not a serious romance, no one is getting engaged, married, having children, or falling in true love. There will be some bad relationships too. I'm not too sure how this will turn out, but I want comedy, drama, and real life action, not just sappy, cheesy romance, though that will be included. :-D

What I need is characters for my story. I want to know quite a bit about this character too, so really think about it. 

I really seriously want REAL characters, not unrealistic, I'm sooo gorgeous, everyone loves me, and I have no faults, characters. No one is perfect, and I want to know the faults of your characters too. You can even send me multiple ideas so I can see which one fits into the story best. Better yet, you can even send me multiple descriptions, and possibly fit more than one character in the story. (think best friends, or family.)

Either e-mail it to me (there's a link to my addy in my bio.) or send it in a review. I insist that I have your e-mail addy so I can ask you questions about your character.

Oh, and you can submit characters for guys too, not just girls 

Real name (last name optional):

Age:

Nickname(unless you want me to give you one.):

The story behind the nick:

Where are you from:

Why are you here:

How long have you been living on the street:

Personality (in depth):

Pet peeves (serious dislikes):

What would make you annoying to some people:

Speech pattern (slight accent, strong accent, no accent, or different accent. Just bear with me as I try and write for so many people's speech):

Favorite newsies: 

Favorite color:

Favorite expression:

Looks:

Optimistic, pessimistic, or indifferent:

Obsessions:

Ideas for lodging house (name, rules, caretaker, building, location, etc.):

Anything else:

I might come up with some more questions later, and I will most definitely e-mail you about your profile.

Thanks!

~Stilts


	2. The Beginning

A/N: wow, sorry it took me so stinkin long to get this out! I have been slightly overhwelmed by character descriptions, I have over 20 now! I will try and get everyone's into the story, just be patient!!! I'm gonna try and get out a few chapters in the next couple of weeks, because ofter that, I go back to school, and my free time, and internet access is cut down. :-D Anyway, I hope you all had a Happy Christmas, and will have a Merry New Year! :-D  
  
And remember, reviews are the flowers in the garden of fanfiction. :-D ~Stilts  
  
I asked for the rights to Newsies for Christmas. I was really disappointed when I didn't get it. Someday maybe. Hmmm... my birthday is coming up! (translation: I don't own newsies, but if you do, and would like to give them to me, I would love you forever!)  
  
~~~  
  
Last week, the room was completely void of signs that a human had been there for years. The windows were stuck, and the door squeaked loudly. The floor was covered with dirt, and everything was coated with dust and cobwebs. Then hurricane Anlu burst on the scene, scaring away all of the dust, dirt, and grime. Anlu was the proud new owner of the building, and she cleaned the first and second floors with love. Carefully, she scrubbed the floor, washed the walls, and swept all of the cobwebs from the ceiling. Now, the old building had its pride back.  
  
Anlu smiled at her handiwork before she went upstairs. Anlu was a short, middle-aged woman, standing just over five feet tall. She was sort of scrawny looking, yet tough at the same time. As she walked up the stairs, her brightly colored skirt swished around her ankles. As always, she was dressed in her favorite color, purple. Even the scarf on her head, holding her hair out of her face as she cleaned, was purple. Smiling at the sounds of laughter bubbling through the half closed door at the top of the stairs, Anlu pushed open the door, it's freshly oiled hinges, no longer groaning in protest.  
  
On the other side of the door, was a wide hallway smattered with various doors, placed as if it were on a whim. Most of the building was, for some reason, like that. It was as if the architect was either daft, or drunk, but the construction crew built it sturdily according to plan. None of the hardware matched. Some of the doors even had brass doorknobs, iron locks, and silver colored hinges, or something similar. Perhaps someone had salvaged for everything that they needed to complete the building. Anlu loved it. She loved the oddly shaped rooms and windows, and the doors that looked like they came from different houses, and the secret door that she found in the kitchen that led back to her own bedroom on the main floor.  
  
The uneven sound of many voices wafted through a doorway, around a half closed door, finally breaking through Anlu's ponderings. She stood in the doorway with a smile on her face as she watched the young bodies, so full of passion for their task, work diligently towards their goal. Some were adding fresh paint to the windowsills, but most were doing carpentry work. The room was filled to capacity, as there were about 20 young men in there.  
  
Most of them were newsboys from the lodging house down the street. There was also the Jacob's boys, David and Les, and Anlu's niece, Lizza. Anlu smiled, love radiating from her face as she watched her niece. When Anlu's brother had died, leaving Lizza an orphan, she had become the center of her life. Darren had been sick for a long time, and it was almost a relief when his suffering. That's when she came over from the Deep South to care for her. She doesn't really need care, since she is eighteen, but they are the only real family each other has. After Lizza's father died, she stayed with her friends at the Manhattan Newsboys Lodging House until Anlu had settled her affairs where she was living, and could get there. Lizza had grown up with a few of the newsies, Dutchy in particular. Their fathers were good friends all the while they were growing up, and they just stayed close over the years.  
  
Partly because Lizza was raised solely by her father, and partly because she has a stubborn streak, She is not a typical girl. Her father gave up trying to make her into a girl when she was eight, and she told him that she wanted to be a blacksmith when she grew up. Most of her guy friends had forgotten that she was a girl a long time ago. Though she could be ladylike if the situation called for it, she is also great at belching, spitting, and fighting. well, she's not the greatest fighter, but she always wins because her friends are good fighters.  
  
While living at the lodging house with her buddies, she fell in love with the newsie lifestyle, and she also noticed something. There are a lot of newsgirls out there that are living on the street, with no place to go. No lodging house would accept them. The only reason Lizza could stay there when she did was the fact that she had a great connection with most of the guys already, and her father, before he died, asked Kloppman to watch over her while she was waiting for her Aunt to arrive. After Lizza voiced this concern to Anlu, she just felt called to open her own lodging house specifically for girls. All of Lizza's friends helped Anlu out so much by helping them get the building ready. They were even building bunks to fill the rooms with.  
  
Lizza looked up to see her aunt in the doorway. "Hi Anlu!"  
  
"Hello dear." She said as she walked into the room. "'Dose bunks are looking great, you amaze me wid' your many talents, my girl."  
  
"I thought father wrote you about Mr. Wilsbur. I decided that I wanted to learn woodworking, so father set me up as an apprentice to Mr. Wilsbur. He forgot to mention the fact that I was a girl, and it was a bit of a nasty shock for the man when I started. I learned just about everything there is to know about building in the years I went there after school every day."  
  
"My Lizza, you're a wonder." Anlu beamed at her. "All of you are fantastic for all of your work."  
  
There was a chorus of "Thank you, Ma'am." And "My pleasure" and ""twasn't nothin'." That echoed all around the room.  
  
"Oh yes, I came up here to tell you all that lunch is ready." Anlu announced to the room.  
  
Everyone looked at each other with excitement. Anlu's meals were always terrific.  
  
"Come on then." Anlu prompted, and some of them raced out of the room, and down the stairs.  
  
"Thank you Anlu, for feeding us." David said.  
  
"It is my pleasure, I just hope its payment enough for all the work you are doing for me." She said.  
  
Les looked at her quizzically, "I've never heard the name Anlu before."  
  
"Dat's because I'm da only one. My Lizza couldn't say 'Aunt Lu' when she was younger, and she's just called me Anlu since she could talk."  
  
"Your name is Lou?" Les asked with a funny expression, "That's a boy's name!"  
  
"Lu is short for Lucille." She grinned as they walked into the dining room.  
  
The dining room contained the two biggest tables they could find, pushed together to fit a large group around it. If their calculations were correct, the table would soon be filled with new boarders. Word on the street gets around quickly through lodging houses and newsies.  
  
It was a pleasant meal, and everyone sat around talking for long afterwards. In the middle of a discussion, there was a knock on the door.  
  
Anlu stood, waving for everyone else to sit down, and she answered the door. "Hello, may I help you?"  
  
On the step stood to men, one with a clipboard. He glanced down at his clipboard before stating, "I got a wagon full of mattresses, and an entrance sign to put up."  
  
"Oh good, I was hoping that you would be here today. I'll get my boys to bring the mattresses upstairs for me."  
  
Anlu disappeared back inside the building, and a few seconds later, she was back, followed by the whole entourage of newsboys, who all in turn, greeted the deliverymen before they paired up and started unloading the wagon, two to a mattress.  
  
"Ma'am, how many children do you have?" asked the surprised man without the clipboard.  
  
"Oh, I lost count, I have about 20 of them here today though." She said nonchalantly with a twinkle in her eye.  
  
"You mean you have more?" the man asked.  
  
"Yes. Now let me see my new sign." She beamed at him.  
  
"Here it is lady" the man announced, pulling the protective piece of oilcloth that was wrapped around it.  
  
Aunt Lu's Newsgirls lodging house.  
  
"It's perfect, thank you for hanging it for me." She said as they picked it up to hang it.  
  
~~~ Alysha looked around, dumbfounded. There wasn't another newsie in sight. She hadn't seen one around here all day today. What great luck! She sold all of her papers off within a few hours that morning, and walked back to the distribution center for another stack. She vaguely knew the boys that usually sold in this section, they were from the 'Hatten lodging house. She knew them mainly by sight, since she didn't like to mingle with anyone at the distribution center. She has a knack for disappearing in a crowd, so that even if someone were standing right next to her, they wouldn't notice her. Hoping that nothing was wrong with them to prevent them from working, Alysha put them out of her mind and raised one of her papers in the air. In a voice that was loud for her, she continued calling out the headlines. Wandering as she sold, she found herself circling around the block, trying to find a good selling spot with lots of traffic. As she glanced around, something caught her eye. Some workmen were putting up a sign on a building across the street, halfway down the block. Intrigued, she tried to see around the man on the ladder to read the sign. All she could read was "Ne.use" with someone standing in the middle of it, so she started walking towards the building.  
  
The man on the ladder looked up at the sign, making sure one more time that it was straight, before he handed his hammer to his partner standing on the ground, and climbed down to stand next to him.  
  
Finally able to read the sign, Alysha's mouth dropped. A lodging house for girls? She had never heard of such a thing. Currently, she paid a woman that owned a boarding house to sleep on a blanket next to the fireplace on the floor in her kitchen. It was all she could afford on such a measly salary. Without even having to think about it, she started towards the sign, drawn to it like a moth to a lamp.  
  
~~~  
  
Anlu head the knock on the door, and thought that the workers had forgotten something. She thought that she had seen them drive off.  
  
But when she opened the door, it wasn't a workman; it was a young woman that looked like she was in need of a good meal. She looked into her troubled looking pale blue eyes., and smiled.  
  
Before the girl could say anything, Anlu instructed, "Come in, ya look like you'se in need some good cookin' to fatten you up."  
  
Whatever Alysha expected, it wasn't that. She almost turned around and walked away, but before she could do that, Anlu grabbed her hand and led her into the dining room and sat her down at the table that she had just cleared off.  
  
"Just sit tight, I'll have you a plate made in a jiffy. You're lucky, lunch is still warm." She said before she disappeared through the swinging door into the kitchen.  
  
She came back less than thirty seconds later with more food than Alysha had eaten all last week. Her stomach grumbled, as if it finally realized that not only had it been empty for a long time, it hadn't had the chance to be good and full in a long time.  
  
She meant to say thank you, but somehow it got lost on the way to her mouth, and she said, "Who are you?"  
  
~~~  
  
"Careful." Lizza advised as Jack and Mush flipped the newly finished bunk unto its base.  
  
"Lizza, how many of dese have we made, carried aroun', an' flipped over?" Jack asked her.  
  
With a smile, she told him, I'm not too interested in how many you've done, I'm still thinking about the first one that you put together.  
  
Shaking his head, Jack thought of the first bunk that they had tried to build without Lizza's help. When it was done, it wobbled, it was unstable, too short for a mattress, and almost touched the ceiling.  
  
"You've come a long way, I gotta admit." She said with a smile.  
  
~~~  
  
"I'm new at this, what sort of rules should I have?" Anlu asked Alysha.  
  
"I suppose I'm new at this too. I don't guess I'm the right person to ask." She said shrugging her shoulders, unconsciously twisting the ring on her finger. When she realized that she was doing this, she tuened it back the right way, so that the engraved "True love waits" was completely visible.  
  
"I should ask Lizza."  
  
"Who's Lizza?"  
  
"Oh, ya really need ta meet 'er. Actually why don't ya' do that now. At the top of da stairs, third door ta the right. Tell 'er I sent you." It wasn't a suggestion, it was more of a command. After she said it, Anlu stood and picked up a rag, and started to scrub the table clean.  
  
Not knowing what else to do, Alysha slowly stood, and made her way across the building and up the stairs. There was no need to remember what door Anlu had instructed she use, the noise from the room everyone was in, beckoned her towards it.  
  
Nudging the half open door wider, she looked in with confusion. For this being a girls lodging house, there sure were a lot of boys there. In fact, they were all boys. She now knew why no one from 'Hatten was out selling today, they were all in here, well, at least she thought. Most of them looked farmilliar.  
  
She stepped in the room farther to see better, and she was noticed by one of the boys.  
  
Mush waved at her and asked, "Hello, who are you?" Having to raise his voice over the noise in the room.  
  
"My name's Alysha."  
  
"Oh, have you been there?" he asked  
  
"Huh?!?" she asked, confused.  
  
"Wow, I bet it's pretty there during the winter, wid all dat snow."  
  
She was just about to ask him what in the world he was talking about when their conversation caught the attention of someone else.  
  
"Mush, who's your friend?" shouted Racetrack from across the room, catching the attention of almost everyone, causing most of the noise to stop, and everyone to look at her  
  
"Dis is Alaska."  
  
"No, actually, it's-" she tried to explain.  
  
"Hi Alaska!" chorused most of the room, drowning out her explanation.  
  
"Is dat where you'se from?" Someone asked.  
  
"Well, no, I'm from Texas."  
  
"She must have visited there!" Someone else suggested.  
  
"Um, in fact, I've never been-"  
  
"I hear dey get snow up dere that can bury your 'ole house!"  
  
"I wonder if there's enough to bury Pulitzer's house?"  
  
Exasperated, she stated, "I don't know, I've never been to Alaska."  
  
"Den why's yer name Alaska?" Mush asked, confused.  
  
"It's not! It's Alysha!" she said, throwing up her hands.  
  
"Not anymore." Racetrack chuckled as he walked across the room, "Name's Racetrack, nice to meetcha, Alaska."  
  
~~~  
  
What do you think? I'm liking it so far, personally. But then again, I think that since I am the author, if no one else liked it, I prolly still would, lol. But I really hope that others like it too. If you review, I'll give you a newsie antenna topper!!! (Well, I might draw one on paint and e- mail it to you or something...) I WISH YOU LOTSA LOVE, AND PEACE, AND JOY, AND SKITTERY, AND JACK, AND RACETRACK, AND SNODDY, AND SNITCH, AND ITEY, AND SNIPESHOOTER.... But I own Dutchy, and I have friends that own Specs, Bumlets, and Mush. You know who you are. :-D LOVE YA GUYS! ~Stilts 


	3. The start of something good

A/N: When I was coming home the other day, I passed by a KFC restaurant, and saw people that were protesting cruelty to chickens… cough IDIOTS cough cough

Anyway, Sorry about the lack of communication, I've been extremely busy with… life in general. I know I promised to send everyone an e-mail responding to their character, but lets face it, I got over 20 profiles… that's a lot of typing. I'm saying right here that I will try and fit absolutely everyone in, though I can't promise huge parts to everyone throughout the whole story, considering the fact that I have to introduce everyone, and other stuff… It really is a challenge just to write this… I had to spend a considerable amount of time making a graph with everyone's names, nicks, ages, and other critical info… Because I did not think of these characters myself, it is a real challenge to write them. It is a challenge I am really looking forward to… just give me patience, as I am slow in getting out chapters. Ah, and I'm pretty much nixing the whole everyone's different accents thing. Forget about it, that's too confusing for me as an author. Ah, onto the chapter!

The first night there in the brand new bunks, covered with a brand new blanket, with a brand new pillow under your head, was like a dream come true, for both Lizza and Alaska. For different reasons, of course, but a dream come true, nonetheless. For Lizza, it was a beginning of something good, for Alaska, it was the end of something bad. Since she was sort of, even though she wouldn't admit it, afraid of Ms. Basson, the owner of the boarding house that she was sleeping at. Not living, since a blanket and the softest piece of floor you can find near the fireplace for warmth is not really living there. In fact, after the guys had asked her where she was from, and why she was there, and her philosophies on life, and whether or not she had plans for world domination... well, maybe not, but they asked her a WHOLE lot of questions... They asked her about where she was living before, and sensed her fear of the woman. After the whole lot of them left for the day, Mush and Racetrack came back after about a half hour, and gave her all of her things that she had left at the boarding house, along with her first month's "rent" that was promised back to her at the beginning when she first got there. "What sweet guys" she thought to herself as she slipped into slumber.

Early the next morning, Anlu sat on the steps of the lodging house, with a hot cup of nice strong coffee held securely in her hands. Breathing in the strong bitter smell of the excellent coffee, she sighed. The morning was going to be beautiful, if the sunrise she was watching meant anything. She closed her eyes and let the sun wash over her, breathing in the still cool air. After taking one more look at the orange tinted sky, and draining the last swallow from her cup, she stood, and walked back inside. After a stop in the kitchen to leave her cup on the counter by the sink, she made her way up the stairs and into the room the two girls were sleeping in.

"Rise n' shine, my girls! It's gonna be a beautiful day!" She said brightly, pulling back the curtains from the windows.

Alaska groaned and sat up, but Lizza buried her face in the pillow and mumbled something unintelligible.

Anlu walked over to her bed, and shook her shoulder. When Lizza didn't move, Anlu simply said, "I made coffee."

Lizza's head shot up, and her eyes lit up. "Woo hoo! I'm up, I really am!" she declared, scrambling to a seated position next to Anlu.

"Alright, now get going, or you won't be at the distribution center when the gates open." Anlu prompted to them both.

"I'd never live it down" Lizza said, jumping out of bed

Anlu smiled at Alaska as she walked out of the room, and went back down the stairs.

"So, Alaska, who's yer usual selling partner?" Lizza asked as they got ready to go.

"It's just me… I've never had a selling partner."

"Seriously? It's not very safe for a girl to be selling by herself too often… there are some sick people out there that watch for girls by themselves… I'll find you a selling partner." She stated, leaving no room for the shy girl to argue.

After a quick breakfast of pancakes, and a cup or two of coffee, the two girls set off together towards the distribution center.

"You ever sold before?" Lizza asked Alaska as she kicked a pebble on the sidewalk.

"Yeah, have for six months..." she said.

"Oh, where have you been selling?"

"Manhattan."

Lizza stopped walking and stared at her, "Are you sure?"

With a funny look on her face, Alaska nodded her head and said, "Yeah, Mr. Wiesel's center."

"How is it that I don't know you then? I thought I knew everyone!" Lizza said, studying her. There seemed to be a vague familiarity about her, but nothing too familiar. She was shorter than Lizza by about 6 inches, and looked very slender next to Lizza's sturdy, athletic structure. Her light brown hair was cut relatively short, and her eyes were light, ice blue.

"I like to be unnoticed." Alaska stated as they kept walking.

They spent the next few minutes in a comfortable silence, with Lizza humming a song. Suddenly, a girl came around the corner, and plowed into Lizza, knocking her, and herself over.

"Sorry, sorry." The girl said in a frustrated voice as they untangled themselves from each other.

Alaska helped them up, and as Lizza brushed herself off, the strange girl tried pushing her huge amounts of long unruly black hair out of her face. Her dark hair almost overpowered her fair skin and pale hazel eyes, but somehow, with the smattering of freckles across her button nose, her colors all evened out. She was relatively short, only an inch or so taller than Alaska, making her about 5'3".

"You alright-?" Lizza said, trailing off.

"Melinda. Or Mel, or Lin. Or, you can call me Skitzo… lotsa people do." She said with a shrug.

"Skitzo?" Lizza asked.

"Oh yeah, Skitzo…Like Schizophrenia. Dey say my moodswings are outta dis world. It's like there's two a me in one body sometimes. So who're you'se guys. I mean goils. You know what I mean!"

"Alaska"

"Lizzabeth."

"Gotta nick' Lizzabeth?" Skitzo asked.

"Other than Lizza, you mean? Ah, Sometimes they call me Stilts."

"Stilts?"

"See, I used to be an apprentice to a woodworker, and he was asked to build some stilts for the circus in town, and I became fascinated by them. I made myself a pair and walked all over town on them. But more people call me Lizza than Stilts, it's kinda old news."

With a snicker, Skitzo said, "mmm, ok."

"Why you in such a hurry?" Lizza asked

"Oh, I gots ta go fetch the laundry from the Laundromat for my landlady… lazy…" she trailed off, saying a few choice words under her breath. "I pay the lady for rent, and she threatens that she might let the room out to someone else iffen I don't do her chores!" she said, scrunching her face in frustration. "An' I'm supposed to start a new job today, I'se gonna try my hand at sellin newspapers... an I'm late!" she said as she started walking off.

"Wait!" Lizza said, stopping her.

Skitzo turned back around and waited patiently for Lizza to talk.

"Interested in getting a bunk at a newsgirls lodging house? Rent's pretty cheap."

Skitzo's face brightened like the sun, as she asked, "Newsgirls lodging house? Can I join?"

Shrugging her shoulders, Lizza said, "sure."

"What's the caretaker like? "

"Well, Anlu's-"

Without waiting for an answer, she kept on asking questions. "Just how cheap is the rent? How old is the building? Are there enough bunks for everyone? Is there only one washroom for lotsa people? Will I get fed there? Is there mold in the building? I don't like mold."

Lizza just gave her directions and told her to go ask for Anlu, she'd answer all of her questions, for sure.

After Skitzo went skipping down the street towards her current place to collect her things and say goodbye, Alaska and Lizza turned to keep on walking towards the distribution center.

Before they got too far, they heard a frantic shout of "Hold up!" from somewhere above them.

Looking up, they noticed a girl that appeared to be about seventeen sitting on a fire escape with her legs sticking out between the bars. She was swinging her legs as she held a half eaten piece of bread. Her long, wavy brown hair hung down her back, hastily pulled into a ponytail, and she was looking at them through wire-rimmed glasses. After shoving the piece of bread into her mouth, she nimbly climbed down, jumping the last 5 feet or so, and landing right in front of them.

"I was listening." She informed them after she swallowed her food. "Is there really such a place?"

"Yeah, My Aunt and I started it just yesterday, 'Laska, here's the only one 'sides me so far. And now Skitzo, if she gets there alright."

"And you are?"

"Lizza. What's your name?"

Proudly puffing up her chest, she answered, "They call me Inquisitive. Or sometimes Ink. But my real name's Danielle."

"Well, Ink, if I can call you that?" Lizza waited for a nod before continuing. "There are lotsa open bunks, you're welcome ta join us."

"Sounds like a wonderful idea!" she said, her face brightening. "Can I bring anyone with me?" she asked, clapping her hands in anticipation.

"I don't see why not…" Lizza said.

"There are more open bunks that filled bunks, at the moment." Alaska stated.

"Do you have anyone in mind?" asked Lizza, thinking she might know them.

"Nope, but I'll find someone!" Ink said with a grin. "I'll meet you there after I'm done selling." She said with a wink before turning on her heel and skipping off.

'If life was ever boring before, I don't think it will be ever again…' Lizza said as they started off once again for the distribution center. They met no one else along the way that stopped them, so they got there quite quickly.

Standing off to the side, near the gates, Lizza scanned the crowd, looking for a familiar face. Amongst the pack of newsies, there were young ones running around, and getting in some serious playtime before the bell rang, and it was time to work, and older kids, bleary eyed, and half asleep, most likely from staying up past midnight, and having to get up at five in the morning. Dutchy waved at her, catching her eye. Grinning, she waved back, and motioned for Alaska to follow her.

"I saved you'se guys a place in line." Dutchy told them, as they got closer. As soon as they got in line with Dutchy, Skittery, Bumlets, Boots and Kid Blink, the bell rang, and the gates opened, signaling them to file up to the counter.

"So, Alaska, what do you know about selling papers?" Kid Blink asked her.

"What are you talking about?" Skittery asked him, with a bewildered expression on his face.

"I'm just tryin to be nice! Maybe she's never sold before." Blink said to Skittery, good naturedly smacking him on the arm.

"What's with you today?" Boots asked Skittery, "you don't usually get mad at us for tryin to help anyone new."

"She's been sellin here for months!" Skittery said, exasperated, and was met with confused looks from the rest of the boys.

"It's nice to know that at least one person noticed me in the last six months…" she said slowly, smiling at Skittery before turning to the others, "I usually prefer not to join the crowd, and am usually sitting over there," she said, motioning to a pile of crates along the wall, "reading, or writing in my journal… I really didn't really know anyone until last night…"

Boots looked back at Skittery, "So how is it that you're the only one here that noticed her?"

Skittery was taken aback. "I dunno… I just… notice things sometimes, that no one else notices."

Skitzo crept quietly up the fire escape, and climbed in through the window of her room, trying to be as quiet as possible.

_If I can pack up and leave before she knows it, she can't yell at me for not doing her grunt work._ She thought to herself as she looked around the room at her scant belongings, and pulled her leather suitcase from under the bed. There wasn't much that she owned, so it didn't take her long to put all of her clothes in, and take down her few newspaper clippings, sketches and postcards that she had collected, and pinned to her wall.

Looking around the room one more time, her gaze fell on a small, framed painting of an angel that she had loved ever since she had come to live there. _ I'm sure she wouldn't even notice!_ Skitzo snickered as she pulled it off the wall. Stifling a laugh, she noticed that there was a bright blue rectangle on the wall behind the picture where it had shielded the once beautiful wallpaper from the harshness of the sun. _Okay, so maybe she will notice… but I don't really care!_ She said with a grin as she fastened the buckle on her suitcase, and crept back out the window and down to the street.

Lizza walked out of the gates, and looked around. "Where's Alaska, she was just here! She was right in front of me in line." She said out loud to herself.

Dutchy, who had just followed after her through the gates, looked up and down the street. "Oh, she's with Skittery, they took off thaddaway." He said, pointing to them as they walked down the street. "I think Skittery just found a friend that doesn't care that he's not cheerful."

Giggling, Lizza agreed, "That's true… "

Ink made her way down the street, among the hustle and bustle of the city. She loved it! Here she could watch people, fascinated by their mannerisms and movements, and just how different people were from each other. Not knowing where her feet were taking her, she just kept wandering down the street. All around were restaurants, shops, and vendors of every kind.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, the form of a girl came hurtling backwards out of a doorway, almost knocking her over. Ink instinctively grabbed her elbow, supporting her so she wouldn't fall. Looking up into the doorway, Ink saw that man that had just nearly tossed the girl out of the doorway was disappearing back inside, only to come back and roughly throw a faded carpetbag at the girl, before slamming the door.

The strange girl dropped the bag, and threw her faded blue cap on top of it, and started screaming at the closed door, in what Ink assumed was French.

'What happened, are you alright?' Ink asked her.

Not even noticing that Ink was there, she kept on fuming, and shaking her head at the door.

"Hey Frenchy." Ink said, trying to get her attention,

Whirling around, her short blonde hair flying around her head, she started talking to Ink in French, not bothering to ask her if she spoke the language or not.

"Whoa, hold on, can you speak English?" Ink asked.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" she said with a heavy accent. "I am fine… I was needing a job, and this man said he can give me a job at the restaurant. He gave me a pinch on the bottom, and I hit him, so he threw me out." She said angrily, before she dropped her head and started crying.

"What? Did he hurt you? Are you alright? What's wrong?"

In between sniffles, she answered. "No, he did not hurt me, I was just… being hopeful of having a job, and being able to eat something this day."

"What's your name?" Ink asked her.

"Cèdre.'

"Well, Ceee… Can I call you Frenchy?" Ink asked, and after receiving a nod, continued, "Frenchy, I'm Danielle, but you can call me Ink. Do you have a place to stay at all?"

"No, Not having a job is not letting me pay for rent any place." She explained.

"Well, I was on my way to a newsgirls lodging house, and I can loan you the first month's rent, and show you how to be a newsie tomorrow!"

Her face brightening, Cèdre wiped the tears off of her face, and gave Ink a big hug. "You are my rescuer!"

A/N: Woot! Long chapter! It's just that I'm trying to get so much into one chapter that I have a hard time knowing where to end them! I hope that you guys like it! And for those that I introduced, did I portray your characters right? I hope so! I'm already working on the next chapter, so it should be out sooner than my other ones… I'M SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG TO GET THIS OUT!!!!!!


	4. Of new friends and flames, with a little...

A/N: insert funny remark on life here

Lizza and Dutchy walked in the front door of the lodging house, and walked into mid-grade chaos. Anlu was sitting at her desk, and there was a line of girls waiting to be signed in, all carrying some sort of luggage or bag with them.

Ink looked up at the sound of the door closing, and waved at Lizza. "I told you I'd find someone to bring with me!" she grinned at Lizza.

With a laugh, Lizza walked over to her. "That you did. I'm Lizza." She introduced, holding her hand out to the girl with short blonde hair next to her.

"Nice to be meeting you! My name is Cèdre." She said warmly.

Putting her arm around her new friend, Ink informed Lizza "Frenchy here's from Brittany, that's a place in France!"

"Lizza, my girl, I'm glad you're back!" Anlu called from her seat. "Can you show these two upstairs? This is Mia and Laney." She informed Lizza, not waiting for her to agree before she went back to signing in Ink and Frenchy.

"Mia?' Asked Lizza, walking over to the two girls.

"Thad be me." Said a girl standing there with a grin that said she was sure of herself. "Mia, or Raven, it don't matter which."

"Raven? Because of your features, right?" Lizza asked her, eyeing her dark auburn hair, almost black eyes, and tan skin.

"Dat's it." Raven said with a smile.

"That would mean you're Laney." Lizza stated to an almost sickly looking thin girl. "You got a nick too?"

"About the only other thing anyone calls me is Pokey." She said, unconsciously trying to smooth down a not so great haircut that made her brown hair stick up all over the place.

"I'm Lizza." She said as they started walking up the stairs. "It's simple, really, downstairs has the kitchen, dining room, Anlu's living space, and I guess what you'd call a lobby. Second floor has all the bedrooms." She said as she opened the door at the top of the stairs, showing a hallway down the middle of the building, with doors on either side of the hallway. "End of the hallway's the washroom for everyone. Every room's pretty much the same… "She said, opening the first door on the right. "Two sets of sturdy bunk beds, a tiny closet, and a huge dresser. I think this was a small hotel way back in the day, or something, but I'm not sure. And the neatest part about this place is the windows!" Lizza said.

"What's with the windows?" Raven asked.

"Whoever built this place was a genius, and made a fire escape style wrap around porch all the way around the building, with a ladder to the ground on both sides of the building."

Both Raven and Pokey rushed over to look out the window, but before they could comment, Ink and Frenchy burst into the room.

"I won!" declared Ink, as she tossed her knapsack on the floor, and danced her own jig around it that looked like a mixture of ballet and clogging, shaking her long, wavy brown hair around as she did so.

"I don't have to share a room with her do I?" Raven whispered to Lizza, as she watched Ink dance around.

Suddenly, Ink stopped dancing, and looked at Raven, "I heard that!" she said, and just as suddenly as she stopped, she continued her funny jig for a few more seconds, stopped abruptly, and curtsied. "I'm done now." She said."

With a smile, Lizza reassured Raven, "Since there are so few girls, and so many rooms, for now, I'll just let everyone pick their own rooms."

* * *

Sitting in her favorite alley, Kyla sat with her legs curled under her, leaning on the brick wall. She was bored! Rekka, her "big friend" as she called her, because she was so much older, than her scant five years, was asleep, curled in a ball under their one blanket that they owned together. Shifting her position to try and entertain herself, Kyla ended up lying on her tummy, her chin supported by her hands, swinging her legs in the air.

"Rekka! If you're athleep, and I'm bored, what thould I do?" Kyla asked, sticking her tongue through the gap where her two front teeth used to be.

Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, Rekka sat up and asked, "Ne?"

"Are you awake?" the bubbly five year old asked hopefully..

"I am now." She yawned, and rubbed her eyes again.

"Why do you alwayth rub your eyeth when you wake up?"

"The same reason you always rub your eyes when you wake up.." Rekka stated.

"Do my eyeth look like yours?" Kyla asked, "Because your eyeth look funny."

With a snicker, Rekka said, "Of course not! My eyes look like this because I'm from Japan, and people in Japan look… well, like me."

"When ith yer birthday?" Kyla asked.

"It's August third. I'm twelve." Recca said, sticking her tongue out at Kyla.

"How did you know I wath gonna athk that nextht?" Kyla asked with a bewildered expression on her face.

"Because you always do, silly!"

"Oh yeah." Kyla snickered. "Rekka, I'm thtill bored…"

Looking around for something to do, Rekka patted her pockets, and found her own favorite toy, a lighter. Being a pyro, she kept it with her at all times.

"Whaddaya doing?" Kyla said, scooting closer to Rekka.

"Playing with fire."

Terror stricken, Kyla scooted away, "Noooooo!"

"Oh, calm down, there's nothing to be afraid of." Rekka said, and with a flick of her wrist, flipped open the lighter, and looking at the flame.

Jumping up with a shriek, Kyla took off running out of the alley.

Looking up and noticing her friend had ran off, Rekka shouted, "Kyla, come back!" before she stood, grabbed the blanket, and chased after her.

Kyla ran as fast as she could, with her eyes closed, down the street, until she hit a barrier. The barrier happened to be Bumlets.

"Whoa, you ok, kid?" he asked her, picking her up from the ground, where she had fallen.

"Rekka'th on fire!" she informed him.

"What's Rekka?" he asked her.

"Japaneethe!" she insisted.

"What?" he asked, as Rekka came flying around the corner.

"Put her down, hentai! Leave her alone." Rekka shouted, trying to pull Kyla from his arms.

"Rekka, thtop! You're hurting my leg!" Kyla shouted

"Calm down!" Bumlets told Rekka. "I was just trying to help her. Who are you?"

"I'm Rekka."

"I don't think Rekka's on fire." Bumlets informed Kyla.

"Oh good." She said, wiggling herself to the ground and grasping Rekka in as big of a hug as her short arms could manage. "I donna want you to burn up and go to heaven like my mommy and daddy did, then I'd have no one to take care of me!"

"Where do you live?" Bumlets asked them.

"In the alley…" Kyla said before Rekka could shush her.

"I know a place where you can stay." Bumlets informed them. "It's a place for newsgirls to live."

"We're not newsgirls though." Rekka told him.

"You can learn, I can teach you." He offered. "Follow me, I'll show you where it is."

Kyla grabbed Rekka's hand, with one hand, and Bumlet's with the other, and they followed him down the street.

After a few minutes of walking, Kyla told Bumlets, "I have a question!"

"Okay, what is it?"

"Will you be my brother? I've always wanted a brother!" she enthused.

"No, that's impossible."

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yes it is!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Uh-huh!"

* * *

Anlu looked up to see a young woman come through the door, and carefully shut it behind her.

"Hello dear!" Anlu beamed at her.

The young woman tucked a loose strand of her chin length brown hair behind her ear, and walked over to the desk. "Hello. I was wondering if you had room for three new boarders?"

"For sure! We got room for 'round thirty-five or so, in fact."

"Thirty-five?" She asked, her jaw dropping.

Ten rooms, up to four to a room, and we've got five or six so far. Of course, we aint been open long, only been open since last night."

"Impressive." She said, clenching her teeth at Anlu's horrid grammar.

"What's yer name, Missy?"

"My name is Lute McDonaghey."

"I aint never heard that name before." Anlu said warmly.

"You mean, 'have not'?" Lute corrected before she could stop herself.

"I say what I mean to say. I aint always proper, but I aint no stupid woman."

With a look of disbelief, Lute said under her breath, "Oh my." Looking around the room, trying not to look at Anlu, so she wouldn't scowl at her.

"Is you thinkin that you'se smarter than me or something?" Anlu asked.

Avoiding her eyes, Lute looked at her feet in annoyance. She needed a place to stay, and the idiot in front of her was getting into a debate over intelligence with her!

"Look at me young lady!" Anlu ordered, and as soon as Lute's eyes met hers, she quietly, yet forcefully ordered, "You will cease your lugubrious behavior right now, young lady. I am certainly not the anile you perceive me to be, so stop your condemning, it is most anserous. Do not belittle the argot of others, it is most unnecessary, not to mention excratable! If this behavior continues, you will indubitably find yourself living elsewhere. Agreed?"

Her eyes widened with shock, and she nodded in agreement, dumbfounded.

A/N: All from my copy of _The Highly Selective Dictionary for the Extraordinarily Literate_, I did not make those words up. Just so you know:

Lugubrious- dismal, gloomy  
Anile-doddering, foolish old woman, imbecilic  
Anserous- silly, foolish, stupid  
Argot-slang, jargon of a group or class.  
Excratable-very bad, abhorrent, detestable, abominable.

Anlu smiled at her, "now that we've both gotten that out of our systems, shall we forget that that ever happened?" When Lute smiled in relief, and nodded, Anlu said, "Good, now how about your friends?"

"I'll introduce you to them later…" she said, hiding her nervousness quite nicely. "They're not here yet."

"Alright, dearie, make yourself at home, rooms are upstairs." Anlu said pointing in the direction of the stairs. "Oh, I will see you at dinner, I have to go prepare it now." She said, turning around and going through one of the two doors behind her desk.

Looking around, and seeing no one anywhere, Lute couldn't believe her luck. Hopefully, her plan would work. Stealthily she crept back towards the front entrance to the building, and opened it. With her whistle, her two friends, eighteen-year-old twins, Casey and Corey crept into the building, each of them holding his own belongings, and Casey clutching a battered trumpet case along with his large bag that matched his brother's.

"What happened, did the lady agree, what's going-" Casey started before Lute cut him off.

"Shhh!" Lute ordered quietly. For once in your whole LIFE, shut up for just a few minutes!" she said, motioning for them to follow her up the stairs. When they got to the top, Lute peeked through the door. Seeing someone walk across the hallway, and disappear into a room, before shutting the door, she waited for a few seconds, before motioning for the boys to stay where they were, and quietly tiptoeing down the hall. Judging by the chatter coming through three closed doors, she figured she should go on down the hall farther. Reaching the last door on the left, she opened it, and sniggered silently as she closed it, thinking that her friends would not want to live in the washroom. Backing up one door, she slowly opened it, showing a very obviously empty room. Motioning to her friends, they crept silently down the hall, and the two boys tossed their things on one of the bunk beds.

"I'll be right back." She said, closing their door, and listening at the door directly across the hall. Hearing nothing, she dropped her stuff next to a bed, and went back over to where her friends were.

"If we can pull this off, and have real beds to sleep in for at least for one night. I doubt they would let you sleep here if they discover you here. So that means you have to be quiet, Casey!"

"What about Corey?" he protested.

"Corey hasn't spoken as many words in his whole life as you have in the last hour!"

Corey grinned, and Casey just nodded, and stated, "That's true." As he opened his mouth again to talk some more, Lute shushed him again, and went back out of the room.

* * *

A/N:

-Matchin Laces- Aww, you're sweet! I sure hope it's worth the wait… I kinda forget that I have a story to write sometimes… remind me every once in awhile if I need it.

-Shooter- Good news, I'm gonna try and put EVERYONE in the story! That means you too! throws confetti and dances This is going to be a serious challenge though, because guess how many characters I have now? 31! Seriously! Well, that's counting my two characters, Anlu and Lizza… but still, they are new to me, since I made them up just for the story. Plus you gotta add in there that it's a newsies story, and therefore there will be newsies in it… holy spongecake, no wonder my writers block gets so big!!!

-Racetrack's goil- I love casting calls too! They are so much stinkin' fun! I love them so much that I'm not pulling the plug on this one. If there were in all reality a place like this, they would be teeming with life, and new people and all that good messy fun!

-Ink- :-D I'm glad you like it. I know it's been awhile since the last update, life is insane. (I'm sure that everyone can relate.)

Announcer: You've read them, folks, yup, shoutouts! If you review now, you too can have your very own shoutout in the next chapter. You did hear me right. For only one payment of a single review, you can get a shoutout. Wait, there's more! If you review now, before the next chapter, you will get, in addition to your shoutout, a pocket sized newsie! This deal has the value of at least two reviews, but today, you can get this deal for one installment of just a single review! This site is standing by, to post your reviews, hurry, before time runs out on this deal!


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